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Tuesday, 5 February 2013

A galley kitchen usually consists of two rows of units divided by an essential corridor. These can be difficult to work with but there are a few tricks you can use. So how do you design a galley kitchen?

The first essential feature is a corridor that's wide enough! The minimum is considered to be 1.4m. You may believe that you could cope with less but remember you need space to open unit and appliance doors, and you may well need to have two people squeezing passed each other. So 1.4m minimum it is.

Plan in that magic kitchen triangle, an imaginary triangle formed between the sink, cooker and fridge. You need to check that all three are easy to reach while also allowing room between them to work. Remember you'll need food preparation space next to the hob and never place the cooker, hob or sink within 40cm of a corner or behind a doorway.

As galley kitchens tend to be smallish, plan in plenty of kitchen storage. It's a good idea to speak to your local kitchen designers at Kitchen Solutions Kent as there are many clever ideas to increase storage space. Innovations include skinny larder units which pull out and then rotate 90 degrees on their axis to make it easy to pick the can or bottle you want. Other helpers are extendable baskets within units, corner units with carousels or pull-out shelves so you can easily reach items at the back, and drawers fitted into the plinth below the units.

If space is really tight bear in mind that small is both beautiful and practical. Many manufacturers now provide multi-function or half size appliances. Go for sleek hobs and narrow fridges and freezers. A cooker hood is all the more important in a limited space so get your designer to work out the power you need from it, based on the volume of the room.

A touch of class is always welcome. Add some luxury with finishes in stone, glass, steel or sleek Corian. Using the same material for the worktop and splashback is a match made in heaven but coloured glass can have a spectacular effect. If you do introduce colour limit your choice to one vibrant hue, adding multiple coulours in a small space can easily be an overkill.

And finally maximise daylight! This is vital in a small room and will help it feel larger, however small the initial space..

1 comment:

Most important of all, in order to have a beautiful kitchen you must always keep it clean. I know this might sound too obvious but I must stress the importance of this aspect because you need to take it into account even in the design phase.